TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

The ideal relationship between teacher and learner is collaborative and mutually respectful, and also rooted in the ability to communicate expectations and perceive the experience as a journey. A learner must be empowered to share their knowledge and background in a way that allows the teacher to capitalize on their skills and strengths while fostering curiosity, empathy, and creativity. The teacher’s role is to listen without judgment and find ways to guide the learner towards self-directed goals while honoring their interests, abilities, and learning style. 

As a learner, I have experienced several different teaching methodologies.  From these, I have been able to explore techniques I found engaging and dismiss those that were unable to hold my attention. The most important lesson I have learned from my various teaching opportunities is that children and adults are not all that different, but that many adults who have not taught children tend to undervalue the importance of making learning a pleasurable experience. We are never too mature or scholarly to appreciate humor and play. When learners feel at ease, they are more likely to incorporate new knowledge into their schema and create connections that extend beyond the classroom. Creating an environment that is fun, challenging, and inviting fosters the true self-reflection, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills necessary to make both teachers and learners stronger. 

With 13 years of experience in PreK-12 education, I designed lesson plans and strategies that reach a broad audience. As a middle school art teacher, I created lessons intended to provoke wonder, while keeping in mind the vast range of abilities, developmental stages, experiences, and interests. These considerations should be made for learners at all levels. At our core, we all have preferred methods of learning. That higher education deals with more advanced material and specified subject matter does not mean that experiential, hands-on learning is obsolete. On the contrary, the more knowledge we have to draw from, the more we should actively be experimenting with and applying it.  This can (and often does) lead to failure, which I insist upon in my pedagogy as part of the creative process. It is through failure that we learn to problem-solve and persevere.   

An effective teacher is able to synthesize content and communicate it in various ways, adapt or modify her approach quickly when needed, make personal connections with learners, maintain sight of the “big picture,” and engage learners with humility, honesty, and humor. Most importantly, though, an effective teacher continues to kindle her own curiosity and desire to learn.  

We must practice what we teach.